The Microtech Vector was the first Knife Design from Joel Pirela, Mr. Pirela commissioned Knife Maker Reese Weiland to build the first prototypes of his design, one day Tony was visiting Reese and saw the work in progress protos on his bench and asked Reese to call Mr. Pirela, the rest is history, the Microtech Kestrel would also be born from this chance moment.

The Vector was an extremely polarizing and futuristic design for its time, the late 90s into the early 2000's would see many far out tactical Knives and Axes, the knife industry began to build and grow from a small groups to larger shows and gatherings. Microtech would continue to lead the way with designs like these. Making sure the public and other members of the industry could not look away from this burgeoning powerhouse. 

The Vector was very much a Tactical Knife of its day, the Tip-Down pocket carry used to be the norm with that crowd. The Rubberized Grip inlays in the handle were also very Tactical and very Microtech, almost all of their folders had grip inlays of some type. The porting on the blade a design que to the OTFs and other knives in the Microtech Lineup. 

This model (And the Kestrel) would remain in production for more than 10 years, long enough to eventually be outfitted with the Triangle hardware.

The Vector would be Re-released in a larger variant with redesigned and modernized Grip Tape inlays instead of the Rubberized Grips, along with being outfitted with the new Triangle hardware. The newer version would also feature Tip-Up carry the more popular style of the time. Microtech would assign a designation code for this knife, the 131- would ship in the updated packaging also. 

Below are some photos Mr. Pirela shared directly with us of original prototypes of the Vector, these were all pre Microtech.